Cross Promoting v. Cross Posting Social Media Posts

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I was excited to find this article via the Elegant Themes Blog, 5 Ways to Cross Promote Social Media Posts. Here is the article link: http://goo.gl/OBT5JR. It discusses the value of cross promoting posts as opposed to cross posting. Cross promoting gives more value to your posts.

Learn the difference between “cross promote” and “cross post” for social media posts. I’ll be talking about this in my Social Media for Professionals class at City College of San Francisco starting this coming Thursday, 1/21/16, 12:00-2:00 PM. Go here and scroll down to VMD 191 for the course description http://goo.gl/3vfo3g. Enrollment is open! Sign up here: http://goo.gl/32194o. The course number is VMD 191.

The course overview states: “This course teaches students how to use online social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to develop, integrate and leverage online social networks. Students learn how to set up a professional media campaign as they engage clients with these tools. Students also critique current social media practices.”

Professional Practice

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I’m teaching the Professional Practice class this term at City College of San Francisco and would like to get some input from my graphic design and digital media production friends and colleagues on how you run your businesses. Please share your input here on the blog. The textbook is the Graphic Artists Guild’s Pricing & Ethical Guidelines handbook and the course is 2 months long (8 sessions). The course starts 9/1/15. Registration ends this Friday, 8/14/15.

The course overview states: “This course will prepare graphic design and production students to skillfully manage freelancing and small business issues such as charging appropriate fees and sales tax, using contracts, understanding copyright and usage regulations.”

What I would like to know is:

– How have you structured business: Freelance/Contractor or Studio/Office?
– Do you submit proposals?
– What are some of the legal issues with which you deal, and how do you deal with them?
– How does Sales Tax factor in; or does it?
– How do you deal with Work-for-Hire situations?
– How do you quote a job: hourly or project? Why?

I would like to get an understanding of real world practices. Please do not feel you have to go into great detail or spend a lot of time.

Please review the course outline here to see the breakdown of content.

Thanking you all in advance for your time.

Learning to Design a Cherokee Syllabary with Mark Jamra

I just caught this very interesting talk on TypeCulture’s Facebook page on designing an indigenous American syllabary via the Cherokee language whose written language is almost 200 years old. Fascinated as my mother’s maternal grandfather was Cherokee.

I love looking at writing systems outside of the Western cultures. For this talk, Mark Jamra references the book The Cherokee Syllabary: Writing the People’s Perseverance by Ellen Cushman.

Also check out Afrikan Alphabets, The Story of Writing in Afrika by Mwalimu Saki Mafundikwa.

Check out TypeCulture on Facebook here: https://goo.gl/fISww4

Image: Courtesy Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_language

Video runtime: 59:42

Looking at process in User Experience

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In my last post, I talked about my quest into the world of User Experience (UX). Process is at the core of any endeavor, and most certainly UX. As a graphic designer, I’ve been intrigued to see how process looks in this area. As users, when we encounter interfaces, we often are left to our own devices in determining how to engage with them. UX helps refine the process for the user with clear, specific steps. User Experience addresses how a product, system or service behaves or performs, and what expectations users have in engaging with it. Users past experiences are key.

Below is a basic outline of three preliminary steps I’ve seen noted and have used that are important to this process.

• Define the users
• Identify the core expectations users have
• Look at how these expectations will play in the process

Learning UX

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I’m finally learning the world of User Experience (UX), an area of the design field that is critical today, especially in the San Francisco Bay and Silicon Valley areas. I’ve audited a wonderful UX class taught by City College of San Francisco colleague Beth Cataldo. These are the two books I will be using as a venture into this field on so many people’s radar.

Thanking Mary Thorsby and Nikki May

Thanking the wonderful content strategist and writer Mary Thorsby and  great graphic designer and creative Nikki May for their incredible talk with the Portfolio class today on how to present oneself professionally online and offline. 

 

They covered writing the critical content for the portfolio and resume well and distinctively, and presenting ones best work. In addition, they encouraged students to let the clients and emloyers be “your” best advocates for your work. Really great advice.

Thank you so much Mary Thorsby and Nikki May!